Sealed electrical connector



E. c. QUACKENBUSH 3,026,495 I SEALED ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR 7 March 20, 1962 Filed Oct. 1, 1958 INVENTOR. Edward Clarke Quockenbush ATTORNEYS Unite tte atet 3,026,495 SEALED ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Edward Clarke Quackenbush, Hamden, Conn, assignor to The Whitney Blake Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Oct. 1, 1958, Ser. No. 764,693 1 Claim. (Cl. 339-62) My invention relates to electrical connectors of the axially connecting type and in particular provides a con struction for mounting contact members and conductors in the resilient dielectric body and enclosing rigid retaining shell of such a connector.

In my copending application, Serial No. 621,957, filed November 13, 1956, now US. Patent No. 2,945,203, I have described a moisture-proof seating construction for securing contact members and conductors in pre-formed bores in a resilient connector body which prevents extrusion of the contacts and conductors upon axial mating of the connector with a correspondingly arranged complementary connector.

It is a principal object of my present invention to provide a similar moisture-proof seating construction which further contemplates providing a positive axial lock between a resilient connector body and a rigid retaining shell for the connector body and which will at the same time firmly secure the contacts and conductors within pre-formed bores in the connector body.

It is a further object of my present invention to provide such a connector construction which will accommodate a variety of conductor sizes in accordance with my aforenoted patent but which will still provide moistureproof seating and axial retention of contacts and conductors within the resilient connector body whether or not the construction of my aforenoted patent is employed.

It is still another object of my invention to provide an axially mating connector construction composed of a minimum number of parts and requiring relatively simple assembly procedure to afifix the contacts, conductors and resilient body within the connector shell while achieving moisture-proof, mechanically secure seating of these various parts without the employment of conventional potting compounds. I

These and other objects of my invention are essentially obtained by positioning an assembled conductor and contact member within a bore in the resilient connector body with the contact member located at one end of such bore and exposed at that, the mating, end for connection to a complementary connector and with the conductor located in the other end of the bore in the resilient connector body and extending from'the other, non-mating, end of such body. The resilient body itself is further provided with an annular recess adjacent its non-mating end, and the connector housing, i.e. shell, which snugly receives the connector body adjacent its mating end, is further provided with a number of fingers which are afiixed about the end of the shell remote from the mating end of the connector and which extend toward the non-mating end of the connector overlying the nonmating end portion of the resilient connector body including the recess about such non-mating end of the resilient body. Each of the fingers is provided with a lug afiixed to its inner side, i.e. facing the contained resilient body, which registers with the recess about the non-mating end of the resilient connector body. A clamping device is provided about the finger portion of the connector shell overlying the lugs on the fingers and overlying the recess on the resilient connector body. The clamping device is employed to compress the fingers radially inward to seat the lugs firmly in the recess,

While at the same time compressing the resilient body tightly about the conductor contained within the nonmating end of the bore or bores of the resilient body, thereby tightly securing the conductor and associated contact Within the resilient body, preventing their extrusion in an axial direction and providing a tight moisture-proof seating of the bore about said conductor.

For a more complete understanding of the practical application of the principles of my invention, reference is made to the appended drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a partially sectioned, exploded view of a connector assembly in accordance with my invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlargedQpartially sectioned view of the assembled connector shown in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the assembled construction shown in FIGURE 2 taken from the non-mating end of the connector.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 5 designates a connector plug constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention, which basically includes a relatively rigid, generally tubular, open-ended, metal retaining shell 6, a generally cylindrical rubber insert, i.e., connector body 7, provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending parallel bores 8, an insulated conductor 9, a pin contact member 10, and circumferentially tensioned strap or band 11 provided with an adjusting screw 12.

Connector shell 6, which is generally tubular in construction having a straight, cylindrical, hollow interior extending between its open mating end 13 and its open non-mating end 14, is provided in its non-mating end with a series of milled slots 15 extending longitudinally from its open non-mating end 14 and disposed at approximately equal arcuate intervals about the non-mating portion of shell 6 to define a number of fingers 16. On its inner face each finger 16 is further provided with an integral extension or lug 17 located adjacent the free ends of fingers 16 at non-mating end 14 of shell 6. Lugs 17 are generally identical and lie in an annular path projecting inwardly about the cylindrical inner surface of shell 6 near its non-mating end 14. Shell 6 is further provided adjacent its mating end 13 with an exterior radial flange 18 for receiving a conventional coupling nut 19 and is also provided on its inner surface adjacent its mating end 13 with a longitudinal lug 29 for reception in a complementary slot formed in the retaining shell of the complementary connector to provide proper angular alignment between the mating connectors in a conventional manner.

Cylindrical connector body 7 has a diameter substantially equal to the interior diameter of tubular shell 6, thus permitting body 7 to be inserted snugly within shell 6, with the non-mating end 21 of connector body 7 flush with the non-mating end 14 of connector shell 6, but with the mating end 22 of connector body 11 recessed from the mating end 13 of shell 6. Cylindrical body 7, as noted above, is further provided with a number of longitudinal bores 8 which open at both ends 21 and 22 of connector body 7. The opening of bores 8 at mating end 22, however, is restricted to a reduced diameter as indicated by the reference numeral 23. Connector body 7 is further provided adjacent its non-mating end 21, with an annular recess 24- shaped and positioned to receive lugs 17 on fingers 16 of shell 6 when body 7 is inserted into shell 6 with their non-mating ends 21 and 14 substantially flush. The number of bores 8 is, of course, selected with reference to the number of desired electrical connections to be made.

Insulated conductor 9 is provided with an insulating covering 25 and is prepared for assembly by baring an end 9a of conductor 9 by removing a portion of insu- Patented Mar. 29, 1962 lation 25. The diameter of insulated conductor 9,.in-

eluding its insulation 25', is preferably selected to be approximately equal to the interiordiameter of bores 8, such that conductor 9 with its insulation 25, can be passed into bores 8. v Contacts 16!, which in the illustrated case are pin contacts although it will be-apparent they can just as well 'be socket contacts, are provided with cylindrical body portions 26 and integral axial pin extensions 27. Body l portions 26 of contacts 16' have a diameter again approximately equal to the interior diameter of bores 8 and are bored at ZS axially of their endsremote from pin extensions 27 to receive bared conductor tips- 901. The diameters of pins 27 are, moreover, made equal to the diameters of restricted portions 23- of bores 8, such that when contacts 10 are passed pin first through the non-mating ends of bores 8 deeply into resilient body 7, body portions 26 will seat in bores 8 against restricted portions 23 with pins 27 projecting through restricted bore portions 23 beyond the mating'face 22 'of resilient body 7.

Circumferentially tensioned strap or band 11 is a commercially available device for clamping a hose or similar structure about a stud or the like and includes a metal strap 30, at one end of which screw 12 is mounted in freely rotatable position; The other end of strap 30 is provided with a series of transversely extending and longitudinally spaced indentations 31' which are positioned such that when such other end of strap 36 is closed upon the first end and passed between said first end and screw 12, the threads on screw 12 engage indentations' 31. Thus, rotation of screw 12 canbe employed to close the circular opening of clamp 11.

Connector plug is assembled first by positioning the baredends 9a of insulated conductors 9 into axialbores 28 of pin contact members Theseare then joined by crimping or soldering and are inserted into bores 8 from the non-mating end 21 of resilient connector body 11 to a position seating the body portions 26'of contact members 10 firmly against restricted portions 23 of bores 8 with the pin portions 27 of each contact member 10 projecting through restricted portions 23 beyond the mating face 22 of connector body 7. In this position it will be observed, referring particularly to FIG- URE 2, contact memberslt) are located within bores 8 adjacent the mating endof connector body 7, and a substantial'lengthof eachinsulated conductor 9 lies within the non-mating end portion of resilient connector body 7, with the remainder of each insulated conductor 9 extending outwardly from the non-mating end 21 of body 7. p

The assembled conductors, contacts and resilient con neetor' body are then inserted into connector shell 6, forcing fingers 16'outward1y, if necessary, to permit the cylindrical exterior surface of body 7 to slide past lugs 17 to the position described above, in which the nonmating-end face 21 of body 7 is flush with' the nonmating-end 14 of shell 6, with lugs 17 falling into recess 7 I 24 and with the mating end'face 22 of body 7 recessed from the mating end 13 of shell 6.

Circumferentially tensioned'strap or band 11 i's'then positioned about the non-mating end portion of shell 6 with band 39 overlying fingers 16, lugs 17 and recess 24. Screw 12 is then tightened to draw band 30 to a minimum circle, compressing fingers 16 inwardly, forcing lugs 17 tightly into recess 24 to secure resilient body 7 in its inserted position within shell 6 and prevent axial and angular movement of shell 6 relative to resilient body 7. The compressive effect of hose clamp His further su'fiicient to compress the-non-mating end portion of resilient body 7 radially inward, tightly forcing the walls of bores" 8 about insulation 25 of insulated conductors 9, which lie in the non-mating end portion of resilient body 7. Thus, a moisture-tight seal between resilient body 7 and insulated conductors 9 is assured, and at the same time, thetight grip of body 7 about insulation 25 also secures insulated conductors 9, and

thereby contacts 10, firmly in position. 'It will also be evident that because the compressive sealing and securing action exerted by clamp 10 on shell 6 and insert 7 is located entirely at the non-mating end portion of connector 5. All distortion of shell 6 and resilient body 7 is thus located beyond the position of contacts 10 at the mating end portion of connector 5. Dislodging of contacts 10 thereby is prevented, particularly since these are located substantially withinthe non-slotted portion of shell 6, in which no compression by clamp 11 can be made to occur.

I claim: t

In a connector of the axially mating type including a resilient body, means defining a bore through said body and opening at both ends of said body, a first contact member disposed in seated position insaid bore at a first, mating end thereof for axially mating at said first end with a second, complementary contact member correspondingly disposed in a complementary connector, a conductor extending into said bore through the other, non-matingend'thereof' and secured therein afiixed to said first contact member, andan open-ended hollow shell receiving said resilient body therein-exposing the mating and non-mating ends of said body, the improvement which'includes a plurality of fingers affixed about and extending from the end of said shell remote from the mating end' of said body and overlying'the non-mating end portion of said resilient body, said resilient body having a reduced cross-section adjacent itsnon-mating end thereby defining a recess in said resilient body, a lug affixed to each said finger on the inner side thereof positioned intermediate the ends thereof registering with said recess, and clamp means disposed about said shell overlying saidfingers, lugs and recess for compressing said fingers radially inward to seat said lugs firmly in said recess and to compress said resilient body radially about said conductor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

